I talked to a couple brokers who mentioned that sellers would be more interested in talking if I were to get an SBA loan pre-approval.
i.e they had other buyers who have all cash offers.

That triggered a few questions:
1- Is this true/a trend? One was for an accounting firm deal, the other for a manufacturing deal.
2- If it is true, how does one go about getting a loan pre-approval from a lender without a deal on the table?